I was born at 3:47pm on Sunday, September 30th, 1956 at Metropolitan Hospital on 2nd & Race streets. I weighed 6lbs and 6ozs. Half a century later, I'm a 6'4" tall native Philadelphian, uprooted and replanted in El Paso, Texas.

Saturday, July 02, 2005

Aahh, Philadelphia...

Home, Sweet Home. My second love, next to my parents...

I've lived in Milpitas California and El Paso Texas (currently), but no place keeps my heart pumping like Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Is it the Brotherly Love? The cheesesteaks and hoagies? The biggest park in the world? The ladies? How about the sports, or the educational opportunities?

Yup. It's all that! It's the flashbacks I still get, four years later, of riding down Lincoln Drive on my bike (Skywalker, RIP) along with rush hour traffic. It's the way we all hit the streets when Dr. J led the Sixers to championship. It's the splendor of the USS Cole, easing on down the Delaware in all it's spendor and glory this year to celebrate Independence Day with us. There are so many things that make up living in Philly that words are never enough, so I'll be adding good pictures to this space to give you a richer and deeper understanding of what it's like to be a proud Philadelphian, blessed with the Declaration and Constitution as our crowning achievements and adorned each day with works and deeds of our citizens.

The picture accompanying this article is taken in Logan Circle, on Ben Franklin Parkway at 19th Street, facing Love Park and City Hall. Notice the flags? There's one for every country flying on the Parkway, a tribute to the heritage of all our citizens. As we go to work or school and do whatever it is we do in our everyday lives in town, we hardly notice the scenery...

But be away from it for a time, like the four years that I have not walked my native streets, and be not surprised by the spirits that call out to you as you try to make your new life an updated version of what you left behind. If you try to run away from them, or ignore them, they wait patiently, knowing what your heart still desires. As you sleep, while you wait at a traffic light, while you're dancing to your new favorite tune...

They arise in full splendor and ease you gently down, down from the heights of the Rockies and deposit you squarely onto the streets of Center City.

And you thank God for the fruit salad vendors, the cheap but tasty and nutritious chinese food cart on 15th & Cherry Sts, and the availability of so many kinds of edible fish!